Bridge Loan Lenders

A bridge loan is a short-term financing solution — typically 6 to 24 months — used to “bridge” the gap between purchasing a new property and securing permanent financing or selling an existing asset. Bridge loans commonly fund fix-and-flip projects, commercial acquisitions, land purchases, and time-sensitive residential transactions where conventional mortgage timelines of 30–45 days would cause a deal to collapse. Unlike bank loans, bridge lenders underwrite primarily against the asset’s value and the borrower’s exit strategy rather than personal income or tax returns.

Bridge loans are short-term financing instruments that “bridge” the gap between an immediate capital need and a longer-term exit — a sale, a refinance into permanent debt, or a stabilization event. Real estate operators use bridge debt to close quickly on acquisitions, cash out equity ahead of a sale, or carry a property through lease-up before qualifying for agency or bank financing. Terms typically run 6 to 36 months with interest-only payments.

The U.S. bridge and private real estate lending market exceeds $50 billion in annual origination volume. Most bridge loans price between 8% and 13% interest plus 1–3 origination points, fund 65–80% of the property’s current value (LTV), and close in 7–14 business days — roughly three to four times faster than conventional bank financing. Origination fees on a $1 million bridge loan typically range from $10,000 to $30,000. Default rates on institutional-quality bridge loans historically run 1–3%, but borrower losses from re-trading and lender non-performance are far more common than outright defaults and go largely unreported outside of deal-level conversations.

Because bridge lending is defined by speed and certainty of execution, the single most important diligence question is not the quoted rate — it is whether the lender actually closes on the terms committed, on the timeline committed. A bridge lender that re-trades pricing in week three or fails to fund can kill an acquisition and forfeit a borrower’s deposit. That execution risk is invisible on a lender’s website and absent from every rate-comparison tool.

Key metrics for evaluating a bridge lender include average close time (industry average: 10–14 days), loan-to-value ratios (typically 65–80% LTV), origination fees (1–3 points), extension fee structure, and — most critically — whether their quoted terms match what they actually close. A lender who quotes 10% and 2 points but routinely re-trades to 11.5% and 3 points at closing is more expensive in practice than a lender who quotes 11% and delivers it.

LendLedger’s bridge lender directory makes execution history visible. Profiles aggregate borrower and broker reviews into an average rating, flag reported bait-and-switch behavior, and show review-confirmed average days-to-close alongside the lender’s self-reported figure — so you can see whether the marketing matches reality. Loan size ranges, maximum leverage, geographic coverage, and fee flags are compiled by curators from term sheets and closed-deal reviews.

Start with the featured bridge lenders below, filter to your state and deal size, and open any profile for the full picture: rate and point ranges, term lengths, extension-fee and prepay flags, and reviews from operators who have actually closed with the lender. A free account unlocks complete review histories and introduction requests.